Greetings [mylia] Rachel firstly may i welcome you to RTH Forums, if you want to do the whole
lapidary thing, you will need a lot more equipment than just a virbratory tumbler!
A 6-12 inch diamond saw, a diamond 60-220 steel wet grinding wheel, a wet drill, a flat lap of some
sort then a vibratory tumbler.
Next how large do you want to do your crystal shards, as I have already done 100mm by 50mm
(4 inch by 2 inch) Quartz Rock Crystal shard in one of my Viking Vibrasonic (Diamond Pacific)
in a 14lb hopper (VT14) that measures 279mm by 82.5mm (11 inch by 3.25 inch).
My Quartz Rock Crystal shards load weighed in at 5kg (11lb), using the following recipe.
60g (2.116oz) of Fixed220 Silicon Carbide for 48 hours with 30g (1oz) of water.
After each stage just rinsed the rock until the water ran clear & washed the hopper.
30g (1.058oz) of F600 for another 48 hours with 30g (1oz) of water.
30g (1.058oz) of F1200 for 48 hours with 30g (1oz) of water.
All rocks had a silk finish, but minimal rock loss just rounded edges.
1 teaspoon of Borax for 72 hours with 30g (1oz) of water.
No polish was used this time, all rocks had a clean, clear & shiney finish, but the shards
still contain their natural flaws.
The 100mm by 50mm (4 inch by 2 inch) Quartz Rock Crystal shard got sold with other shards
weighing 1kg (2.2lb) for £50 about ($77.50), the rough cost £7.50 about ($11.62) per 1kg (2.2lb).
I would recommend either Diamond Pacific MT14 with a single 14lb hopper or a second hand Viking
Vibrasonic VT14 or VSV14 [jamesp] got a Viking Vibrasonic VT14 recently on Craiglist, you could
also try ebay or gumtree.
I am not sure what the dimensions of the 10lb hopper on the Minisonic MT10 probally about
200mm (8 inch) long, however bear in mind the Minisonic MT10 requires 2 tune-up-kits every year or two,
the MT14 reqires 3 costing each about $50 on Diamond Pacific retail recommended price.
I got 2 Viking Vibrasonic VT14 and VT12 for £80 about ($124) almost 6 years ago, but I only first
used the VT14 in July last year, the VT12 has never been used as yet as it is disassembled,
the 6lb hoppers have no liners and the measure 70mm by 70mm wide (2.75" by 2.75" wide).
If you are buying new I suggest you buy it via JS Gems Lapidary see sticky #1, or contact [
johnjsgems]
for a nice discount from Diamond Pacific's retail price list.
Please check out my Sticky's below.
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Please click images to open larger images in a new Tab, same with everything that is Underlined!
I currently have a 3lb Beach (UK), Lortone QT 12/66 (USA) rotaries & 2x Viking Vibrasonic
(Diamond Pacific) (USA) virbrating tumblers, with Silicon Carbide grit F80, F220, F600, F1200,
with Tin Oxide (1.0 micron) & Aluminum Oxide (1.0 micron & 0.3 micron) polishes.
I hail from (The Barony of Seabegs)
Bonnybridge,
Stirlingshire,
U.K, where
aliens (15mb)
sometimes come for a visit & about 4 miles west from that
monstrosity & 7 miles west of this new
monstrosity!
Sticky's: their contents are resource information 1#:
Vendors worldwide (2mb), 2#:
How to use the forum,
3#:
How to identify rocks & minerals, 4#:
Save money on expensive grits & polishes,
5#:
Aussie Lapidary Forum: Rock Tumbling Guide!